Counsel assisting warns ‘fairness is deserved by all’ after inquest hears foster mother may have disposed of three-year-old’s body following accidental death in 2014
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Dr Jennifer Menzies, an expert in forensic anthropology, told the coroners court on Tuesday she couldn’t be sure whether William’s bones would have been preserved if they were in the search area.
Menzies had been asked about the degradation of juvenile bones by investigating police.
She said in court that juvenile bones decomposed faster than adult bones and exposure to the environment was a factor.
“[But] I cannot state with certainty whether his remains are likely to be preserved or otherwise,” she said. “I have not visited the site of deposition.”
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Snr Const Adam Aitken said the cadaver dog Digger was used for days during the initial search across a number of private properties.
Aitken said the initial search did not cover the area examined intensively in 2021.
Snr Const Matthew Gates, from the NSW police dog unit, was involved in the searches that immediately followed William’s disappearance. He was certain a three-year-old could not have gone far on his own.
He said it was “extremely difficult” to navigate the bushland surrounding the foster grandmother’s home in Kendall and, on many occasions, his dog could not get through the scrub.
Snr Const Jost Preis told the court on Tuesday he used data from GPS trackers worn by police and others during the 2018 and 2021 searches to create a colour-coded map of the entire search area.
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